Addiction Rehab: Just a Personal Thing? a Qualitative Account of Health Behaviours and Values Associated With Body Piercing.
Just a personal thing? A qualitative account of health behaviours and values associated with body piercing.
Filed under: Addiction Rehab
Perspect Public Health. 2012 Oct 26;
Randall JA, Sheffield D
Objectives:This study investigates the perceptions of individuals with body piercings in relation to health behaviours and values specifically taking into account piercing location.Methods:A qualitative study that employed a series of in-depth, semi-structured individual interviews using thematic analysis to analyse data. Nine individuals with a range of piercings were recruited and semi-structured interviews were carried out in a West Midlands piercing studio.Results:The analysis identified themes relating to the presence of body piercings that included a range of health-related outcomes such as physical appearance, health behaviours, addiction and impressions. A possible relationship between oral piercings and ‘crash dieting’ was also identified.Conclusions:The results suggest that from the comments made the presence of body piercings is not related to any particular health concern, which is instead comparable to the general population. These results contradict previous studies citing a relationship with high-risk health behaviours. Further large-scale studies examining these findings are warranted.
HubMed – addiction
The uncompetitive NMDA receptor antagonists ketamine and memantine preferentially increase the choice for a small, immediate reward in low-impulsive rats.
Filed under: Addiction Rehab
Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2012 Oct 27;
Cottone P, Iemolo A, Narayan AR, Kwak J, Momaney D, Sabino V
RATIONALE: Impulsive behavior is categorically differentiated between impulsive action, the inability to withhold from acting out a response, and impulsive choice, the greater preference for an immediate and smaller reward over a delayed but more advantageous reward. While the effects of N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA) receptor antagonists on impulsive action have been extensively characterized, there are very few and conflicting reports on the effects of this class of drugs on impulsive choice. OBJECTIVES: Using a modified adjusting delay task, we investigated the effects of uncompetitive and competitive blockade of NMDA receptors on impulsive choice. METHODS: Male Wistar rats were trained in a modified adjusting delay task, which involved repeated choice between a low reinforcing solution delivered immediately and a highly reinforcing solution delivered after a variable delay. Rats were then administered either the NMDA receptor uncompetitive antagonists ketamine or memantine, or the competitive antagonists D-AP-5 or CGS 19755. RESULTS: Ketamine treatment dose-dependently increased impulsive choice, and this effect was selective for low-impulsive but not high-impulsive rats. Similarly, memantine treatment dose-dependently increased impulsive choice with a preferential effect for low-impulsive rats. While D-AP-5 treatment did not affect impulsive choice, CGS 19755 increased impulsivity, however, at the same doses at which it caused a marked response inhibition. CONCLUSIONS: NMDA receptor uncompetitive, but not competitive, antagonists significantly increased impulsive choice, preferentially in low-impulsive rats. These findings demonstrate that the effects of NMDA receptor blockade on impulsive choice are not generalizable and depend on the specific mechanism of action of the antagonist used.
HubMed – addiction
Cocaine-related behaviors in mice with deficient gliotransmission.
Filed under: Addiction Rehab
Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2012 Oct 27;
Turner JR, Ecke LE, Briand LA, Haydon PG, Blendy JA
RATIONALE: Astrocytes play an integral role in modulating synaptic transmission and plasticity, both key mechanisms underlying addiction. However, while astrocytes are capable of releasing chemical transmitters that can modulate neuronal function, the role of these gliotransmitters in mediating behaviors associated with drugs of abuse has been largely unexplored. OBJECTIVES: The objective of the present study was to utilize mice with astrocytes that lack the ability to release chemical transmitters to evaluate the behavioral consequence of impaired gliotransmission on cocaine-related behaviors. These mice have previously been used to examine the role of gliotransmission in sleep homeostasis; however, no studies to date have utilized them in the study of addictive behaviors. METHODS: Mice expressing a dominant-negative SNARE protein selectively in astrocytes (dnSNARE mice) were tested in a variety of behavioral paradigms examining cocaine-induced behavioral plasticity. These paradigms include locomotor sensitization, conditioned place preference followed by cocaine-induced reinstatement of CPP, and cocaine self-administration followed by cue-induced reinstatement of cocaine-seeking behavior. RESULTS: Wild-type and dnSNARE mice demonstrated no significant differences in the development or maintenance of locomotor sensitization. While there were non-significant trends for reduced CPP following a low dose of cocaine, drug-induced reinstatement of CPP is completely blocked in dnSNARE mice. Similarly, while dnSNARE mice demonstrated a non-significant trend toward reduced cocaine self-administration compared with wild-type mice, dnSNARE mice do not demonstrate cue-induced reinstatement in this paradigm. CONCLUSIONS: Gliotransmission is necessary for reinstatement of drug-seeking behaviors by cocaine or associated cues.
HubMed – addiction
Rationale in support of the use of selective dopamine D(3) receptor antagonists for the pharmacotherapeutic management of substance use disorders.
Filed under: Addiction Rehab
Naunyn Schmiedebergs Arch Pharmacol. 2012 Oct 28;
Heidbreder C
Growing evidence indicates that dopamine (DA) D(3) receptors are involved in the control of drug-seeking behavior and may play an important role in the pathophysiology of substance use disorders. First, DA D(3) receptors are distributed in strategic areas belonging to the mesolimbic DA system such as the ventral striatum, midbrain, and pallidum, which have been associated with behaviors controlled by the presentation of drug-associated cues. Second, repeated exposure to drugs of abuse has been shown to produce neuroadaptations in the DA D(3) system. Third, the synthesis and characterization of highly potent and selective DA D(3) receptor antagonists has permitted to further define the role of the DA D(3) receptor in drug addiction. Provided that the available preclinical and preliminary clinical evidence can be translated into clinical proof of concept in human, selective DA D(3) receptor antagonists show promise for the treatment of substance use disorders as reflected by their potential to (1) regulate the motivation to self-administered drugs under schedules of reinforcement that require an increase in work demand and (2) disrupt the responsiveness to drug-associated stimuli that play a key role in the reinstatement of drug-seeking behavior triggered by re-exposure to the drug itself, re-exposure to environmental cues that had been previously associated with drug-taking behavior, or stress.
HubMed – addiction
Dr Katharine May – psychologist and addiction specialist – From http:www.knowdrugs.net Dr May is a psychologist who works in addiction, as an interface for people coming into rehabilitation. She wrote her Masters on substance misuse. It was called ‘The Myth of the Addict’. In this interview she talks about the bio-psycho-social model of drug use, signs to indicate addiction, the formation of drug policy and its effects on scientific research, the process someone going into rehab might go through, and gives a physiological explanation of what happens to your body when you mix cocaine and alcohol. Among other things…skip through the chapters to see some of the other subject areas she covers.
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